Itokin Park (Kazuhiko Ito) made the rare trip from Japan to the USA (his 4th ever) for the opening of his solo tonight @ Super7 in San Francisco. The doors opened to an impressive line — collectors quickly purchased all but one of Kazuhiko’s 16 customs featuring 14 Mikazukins and 2 Himalans. In addition to the customs, S7 also offered their exclusive orange himalan as well as an unpainted orange himalan (very cool).
All the customs were cool — however the feature pieces were definitely the clear Mikazukins (3) and Himalans (2) filled with mini-resin figures. The amount of work that went into these is ridiculous. Each features three separate mini-figures — the Himalans have meat bones, steaks, and mini-himalans while the Mikazukins have large moons, small moons, and mini-mikazukins. If you’re wondering why Kazuhiko does so few of these gems — it’s because of all the labor involved in creating the minis and the fact that his silicon molds only support enough casts for about 2-3 figures. Congrats to the five collectors who purchased these at what we consider a very reasonable $400.
In case you’re wondering about the multi-patterned Japan themed Mikazukins — the head design symbolizes Mount Fuji and the writing on the back is the Kanji for “Mikazukin”.
Finally, Kazuhiko offered a handful of black versions of his upcoming self-produced Lucha Bear figure. As you’ll see in the pics, the new figure is almost exactly the same height as the Mikazukin and as such should blend in nicely in a collection.
While he’s certainly a very talented artist, Kazuhiko happens to be one of the nicest guys in the biz — definitely part of the reason his popularity continues to soar (despite his modest denials). He signed figures and sketched for all that asked.
The show served as a nice kick-off to what’s shaping up to be a great year for Itokin Park and his collectors. [Thanks to Mike M for additional pics to round out our on-the-spot coverage].
Super7 Store
1630 Post Street
San Francisco, CA 94115
415.409.4700
